Hit #2

By Bryce Carlson, Vanesa R. Del Rey, & Archie Van Buren

What happened to making just a really interesting detective story without some sort of supernatural twist? If you find yourself asking this, then Hit is the series for you. It’s no secret that during the 50’s the LAPD had many corrupt and vigilante cops running around killing and terrorizing gangsters who would always skirt the fine lines of the law to get away with their illegal businesses, but what happens when those cops go from hunter to hunted?

Our main protagonist, Slater, is trying to solve multiple recent deaths that start to seem connected not just to each other but to Slater himself. Carlson really embraces that noir style of writing having the reader feel as lost as Slater trying to solve these crimes. Slater has good intentions for being a cop who operates outside of the law but he still has flaws like anyone would, including falling for a dame that may or may not know more than she will tell Slater. The girl, Bonnie, does a great job at playing the victim and using her sexuality to fog Slater’s vision. It keeps the reader wondering whether she truly is the victim she makes herself out to be or if she is more cunning with her own secret agenda using Slater to her own gain.

It’s hard to talk about Hit without mentioning Del Rey’s art, which authentically feels like an old pulp comic from the 50’s. It has a simple, sketch look to it, yet is so detailed in certain areas that meld the looks of both a comic and a movie. All of the art does an amazing job capturing the era without shoving certain 50’s nostalgia down your throat. Hit has a certain darkness in the art that leaves the reader with a brooding feeling that carries through the series, which is what you expect from a classic noir story.

Hit is a four issue mini-series, which makes this issue the halfway point of the story, and if the last two issues are as good as these first two then this is shaping up to be one of the best series of its genre. It will be fun to see where this series goes because if you’ve made it this far and are intrigued then you have to see how this will all end for Slater.